What's Good for the Goose…

While it’s popular to complain about the Mountain West not being a BCS automatic qualifier, the truth is, it’s in the MWC’s hands.
All it has to do is keep winning.
This week’s BCS standings have three MWC teams among the top 25 (Utah, TCU and BYU). That’s more than the Pac-10 (2) and Big East (1) conferences. In fact, the Big East’s only ranked team is West Virginia, which squeaked into this week’s BCS standings at No.25.
In order for a conference to be an automatic qualifier for a BCS bowl, it must be strong over an extended period. The BCS website says, ‘Each conference will be evaluated over a four-year period, based on the three elements: the average rank of the highest ranked team, the average rank of all conference teams, and the number of teams in the top 25.’
In other words, if the MWC can stay as strong as it is this year for four years, it can earn an automatic berth.
Interestingly, the MWC currently has more teams rated among the top 15 than the Big Ten, Pac-10, Big East or ACC.
‘We’re not the SEC,’ says BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe, ‘I’m aware of that. But you know what? We’re not (just) the seventh-best league in the country right now. That’s reality, but we have to have staying power.’
This is just the first year of a four-year cycle by which conferences are evaluated.
Thus, when Holmoe says he’s happy arch-rival Utah is doing well, he means it. The more MWC teams in the BCS standings, the closer the league is to becoming an automatic qualifier.
As for the gap between conferences, Holmoe said, ‘We’re closing in on those guys.’